The present invention relates to a device for depositing cables made of synthetic fibers, in the form of spirals into receiving containers.
Cable-depositing devices for depositing cables into receiving containers or cans of the type under discussion include means for forming spirals while the cable is laid into the container. It is very important to avoid the formation of loops during the depositing of the cable into the containers and also on the conveying means guiding the cable into the container. If the cable is laid on in a non-regular shape it becomes troublesome to draw the cable out of the can. In order to obtain the most exact position of the cable within the container conventional devices for depositing cables have been provided with cable-feeding organs spaced at the periphery of a receiving or spiral-forming receiver. These cable-transporting organs have been formed as toothed or smooth discs or circular belts. The function of these cable-depositing organs is to form spirals or turns of cables while the cable is fed into the receiving container. The accommodation of the drives of these cable feeding organs within the device has presented a problem. For solving this problem one had to compromise at obtaining an efficient output in such devices or at limiting the application of the devices to certain cables. Specific difficulties have occurred while depositing tension-sensitive cable with a relatively low titer and with high speeds of depositing.
French patent FR-PS No. 11 34 129 (FIG. 5) discloses a device for depositing cables in which toothed discs are utilized as the cable feeding organs. The toothed discs are in mesh with a worm which is mounted on a main shaft of the device. This conventional device is, however, unsuitable for the majority of the cases of application. The usual number of revolutions of the main shaft is at the present time from 1,000 to 5,000 per minute. With such a speed, lubrication of the worm drive becomes indispensible. A lubrication agent would be adhered to the toothing of the discs and to the cable which is inserted immediately into the toothing, which would unavoidably lead to contamination of the cable. Moreover it has been difficult to meet the requirements existing for the teeth of such discs. On the one hand, the toothing of the disc must ensure sufficient operating characteristics of the worm drive and, on the other hand, the cable should be fed and deposited in a precise way and without damage and released into the receiving container. Any change in a feeding speed requires an exchange of the worm and the toothed discs and is possible only in a very narrow range.
Another cable depositing device has been disclosed in DE-PS No. 19 09 738. The above disadvantage is avoided in this device. The cable-feeding organs in these devices are four toothed discs which extend not in radial planes but are positioned--similarly to the wheels of the car--pairwise on the ends of two shafts. A worm gear is situated on each of the two shafts, which gear is in mesh with a worm mounted on the main shaft of the device. This known device which is adapted for depositing the cable to a conveyer belt has additional guide elements. The device, however is not suitable, due to a non-radial position of the toothed discs, for a proper formation of spiral cable turns and depositing the cable in the form of spirals into individual containers.
A further conventional device disclosed in DE-OS No. 2809 061 (FIG. 1) includes a plurality of endless belts operating as cable-feeding organs and each running over a drive roller and a deflection roller. The transmission drive is arranged laterally and below the cable receiver and has at the inlet side thereof a vertical shaft parallel to the axis of the system, which is coupled with the main shaft via the aforementioned belts. At the outlet side, the drive has a horizontal shaft which is connected to a drive roller of the cable-feeding organ via a further belt. The drive rollers of the remaining cable-feeding rollers must be driven by the aforementioned drive rollers via an elastic shaft ahd bevel gears or the like because sometimes it is impossible in a closed drive arrangement to couple all the drive rollers directly with the drive. Furthermore, this rather complex arrangement has also the disadvantage that the drive is positioned below the receiver, which leads to the increase in the height of the whole device and can make the depositing of the cable more difficult. When, for example a cable is deposited into a can or container which is rotated in a conventional fashion about an axis which is eccentrical to the axis of the system the cable spirals falling into the container at a certain speed, which can be drawn along with the rotating can, remain hanging below the structural components protruding downwardly.
The device for depositing cables disclosed in DE-AS No. 2747 706 has internal cable-feeding organs positioned at the periphery of the rotating receiver and also external cable-feeding organs which are arranged in a ring-shaped external body enclosing the receiver. The external cable-feeding organs are driven and drive the internal cable-feeding organs by a friction contact. The cable spirals run between the internal and external feeding organs and pressure is applied to these organs to generate a required friction force. This device however is not suitable for cables which are sensitive to squeezing.
The drive of the external feeding organs has not been disclosed in the above German reference. However, such a drive has been described in corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,366 as a bevel gear drive. The drive in this known device is arranged laterally and below the receiver whereby the insertion of the depositing device into the can and the formation of cable spirals is rather difficult.
The aforementioned DE-AS No. 2747 706 shows an embodiment in which the external cable-feeding organs are omitted. The cable is fed by the feeding organs formed by discs and is deposited below the axes of rotation of the discs so that, due to a pulling force, a torque is exerted on the discs whereby the latter are moved in rotation. In this embodiment, it is difficult to obtain a simultaneous feed. The device is unsuitable for tension-sensitive cables.